Chelmsford City 0 Barnet 0
(FA Cup, fourth round qualifying)
CHELMSFORD City will travel to The Hive for a replay on Tuesday night after holding Vanarama Conference Premier table-toppers Barnet to a goalless draw at Melbourne Park in the FA Cup.
The Clarets more than held their own against their higher step visitors and had a couple of chances to win the game. Although they did require some great saves from on-loan Rotherham United goalkeeper Tony Thompson to keep them in it at a couple of crucial points in front of the crowd of 1,844.
For both sides the prize was £12,500 from the FA and a potential money-spinning first round proper clash against a Sky Bet League One or Two side.
On paper it was a tough ask for the Clarets, with Barnet sitting at the top of Vanarama Conference Premier table, with just three defeats from their opening 18 competitive fixtures of the season.
There were three former Bees lining up for City against their old club, with Mark Hughes and Lee Sawyer in the starting XI and Nicky Nicolau on the bench.
Hughes in particular was singled out by Barnet boss Martin 'Mad Dog' Allen ahead of the game as one of his 'all-time favourite ever players'.
The 31-year-old former Northern Ireland international provided Barnet with one of their most important goals in recent years, a cracker against Burton Albion in 2012 that sealed a 2-1 win and kept the Bees in the Football League that year.
Allen has a framed photograph of the two hugging at the end of that game in his house.
One of City boss Mark Hawkes' toughest selection dilemmas on the day was whether to keep Niklas Freund as his cup goalkeeper or select Thompson, who starred on his debut in the 3-2 league victory at high-flying Havant & Waterlooville. He plumped for the experience of Thompson in the end.
Among the outfield players Robert Girdlestone came in for the suspended James Love, Mark Haines, who had been rested against Havant, came back into central defence with one of the goalscorers at Havant, Marvin Ekpiteta, dropping to the bench.
Allen, in his fourth spell at Barnet, said in the week that he would pick the strongest side he could for the cup clash and the 49-year-old former QPR and West Ham man was true to his word.
Sam Hoskins was the only change to the starting XI from their 3-0 Vanarama Conference Premier win over Braintree Town on Tuesday night.
The Clarets certainly weren't overawed by their higher league visitors in the opening exchanges. A smart turn by Michael Cheek almost sent him away, but he didn't have the pace to run clear on goal.
At the other end Hoskins headed over from a Luisma Villa cross.
From a Joe Ward corner on eight minutes, Chelmsford midfielder Christian Smith sent a powerful header over the crossbar.
Hoskins fired in a low shot that was comfortable for Thompson, before the Clarets had a great opportunity to open the scoring on 15 minutes.
Rohdell Gordon, who was looking bright in the left, picked out Cheek with a low cross and although the striker couldn't connect properly first time, he picked up the loose ball and turned and shot into the side netting of former Arsenal goalkeeper Graham Stack's goal.
The hosts survived two close calls within the space of two minutes. First John Akinde flicked a ball into the path of Villa in the box, but he sliced his effort horribly over with the net beckoning on 26 minutes.
Then from a corner, big Barnet defender Bondz N'Gala was inches away from touching home the ball as it fizzed across the six-yard box.
Gordon was a constant pain for Barnet down the left and kept jinking inside from the wing. On 34 minutes, his low cross with the outside of his right boot was just out of the reach of the onrushing Ward.
Allen was clearly not happy with this side, constantly bellowing from the touchline, and he brought the goal threat of Lee Cook on for the second half, replacing Villa.
On 54 minutes, a quick Barnet break culminated in Hoskins squaring for Bees skipper Weston, but he could only poke the ball into the arms of the diving Thompson.
Moments later the powerful Akinde muscled his way into the box, but curled his shot over the crossbar the left.
A spell of pressure on the Barnet goal ended with a Gordon shot over the crossbar from the crowded penalty box.
Injury forced Mark Haines out of the action for Chelmsford on 65 minutes, with Ekpiteta coming off the bench in his place.
Thompson pulled off a big save on 70 minutes blocking David Stephens' point blank header from a corner with his leg.
Allen threw 16-year-old Matt Stevens into the action for Hoskins, before Hawkes sent on Evans Kouassi for Ward.
Chelmsford were still creating the odd chance and Cheek saw a far post header fly just wide from a deep free-kick before Yads Mambo did the same with 10 minutes to go.
Cheek had a great chance on 85 minutes when Kouassi beat his man down the right and squared for the striker, but his shot was blocked by a defender's leg just inside the box.
Cook tested Thompson with a low shot, which the keeper held expertly, scrambling to his left.
The goalkeeper again proved his credentials late on, palming away a Mauro Vilhete shot from inside the box before the Barnet man curled a strike from distance on to the crossbar and over.
There was some frantic defending in the final moments, but Chelmsford hung on to secure the replay trip.
CHELMSFORD CITY: Thompson, Girdlestone, Redwood, Hughes, Haines (Ekpiteta 65), Mambo, Sawyer, Ward (Kouassi 73), Gordon, Cheek, Smith. Subs not used: Morgan, Callander, Nicolau, Barham, Freund. Att: 1844.
